Super Bowl ads battle for championship

Celebrities always draw attention. And advertisers took a gamble that using stars would be enough to grab attention.

Chrysler, one of nine automakers advertising during the game, aired a Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood. The aging actor talks about the rebirth of Chrysler and Detroit. The two-minute “Imported from Detroit” ad, one of the few spots that weren’t released before the game, follows the company’s ad last year that starred rapper Eminem.

“How do we come from behind, how do we come together and how do we win?” he asks. “Detroit is showing us it can be done. What’s true about them is true about all of us.”

Chrysler’s ad was among the few standouts on Sunday. “Those very few ads that weren’t overexposed up front ended up with a real advantage,” said Raymond Taylor, a professor of marketing at the Villanova School of Business in Villanova, Penn.

Meanwhile, real-estate company Century 21′s ad shows that a real estate agent is able to outdo speed skater Apolo Ohno on the ice, business mogul Donald Trump in business and former football player Deion Sanders at an open house.

And in an ad for Pepsi, “The X Factor” winner Melanie Amaro belts out “Respect” for music icon Elton John, who plays a king in the spot. “Pepsi for all,” she says. At the end of the ad, John finds himself in the dungeon with rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav.

REMEMBER THAT? NOSTALGIA FACTOR

Some advertisers attempted to tug at viewers’ heart strings by stirring up old, fond memories.

Honda’s ad for its compact sports-utility vehicle CR-V shows actor Matthew Broderick living a grown-up version of his 1986 hit movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The ad includes two dozen references to the movie.

An Acura NSX ad features 1990s comedic titan Jerry Seinfeld battling with late-night talk show host Jay Leno over the sportscar. The ad includes Seinfeld references like a cameo by the “Soup Nazi” character.

And during Downy’s pre-game ad, the company remakes one of the most classic commercials of all time, Coke’s 1980 spot “Mean Joe Greene.” In the original, a little boy gives a gruff football player Joe Greene a Coke as he comes off the field. The Downy remake stars Greene and actress Amy Sedaris (in the little boy role) giving Greene a can of Downy fabric softener.